Bell School

The sixth annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival comes to town on Saturday, September 29th with more of everything–new authors, food trucks, activities and special attractions like the Bubble Bus.

Food trucks will include Mobile Pie, Walter’s Hot Dogs, The Melt Mobile and Three Little Pigs. Dessert will be available at the Great Chappaqua Bake Sale and also at Penny Lick Ice Cream’s cart which will feature a custom CCBF flavor in homage to author Bernard Most: If the Dinosaurs Came Back for Ice Cream. The Mike Risko Band and the Random Farms Kids’ Theater will provide entertainment.

Ninety-four authors including favorites like Victoria Kann, Rosemary Wells, Nick Bruel, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague will sign books and chat with their fans. Books are available through Best Book Fairs (cash or credit cards accepted). The festival, an all-volunteer effort, will also feature 18 new authors. A focus for the festival’s organizers was bringing books to a more diverse audience in 2018.

Dawn Greenberg, founder and executive director of the festival, noted: “Each year the author selection committee attempts to find books that will offer our visiting families the opportunity to be transported by our authors to different and diverse worlds, giving them a window on all kinds of characters and experiences–real and fictional. We are thrilled to bring in a wide selection of authors and genres this year who are getting great buzz in the children’s publishing world for their riveting stories and fresh voices.”

“When I first heard about the walkout movement,* I wondered why our school wasn’t showing more effort to do something meaningful like the other schools who were going to walkout,” eighth-grade student Isabelle Good-Ricardo said.

“Middle school is such a weird time in your life. You’re growing up, making friends, and you’re trying to figure out who you are. You have to do all this while juggling school work. That doesn’t leave much time for politics,” Good-Ricardo explained.

“What some people don’t understand is that we are the next generation of voters,” she emphasized. “In a few years, we will be the people who decide the fate of our country. It is so important that we establish a foundation of beliefs when we are young.”

Good-Ricardo said the walkout isn’t to force anyone to participate. “It is to make sure we know that we are people whose voices can and will be heard. We are living history in the making and we’re missing it! It’s time that we stop watching and start doing.”

“I urged the school and my peers to join and follow the national movement by planning a walkout for (Robert E.) Bell (Middle School in Chappaqua) on March 14th at 10 a.m. and started by reaching out to some of the eighth graders,” she said. (When) it became clear students from other grades decided to join, “I emailed the teachers and principal to let them know what will happen so that they are aware of what will take place on that day.”

Good-Ricardo then met with school Principal Dr. Martin Fitzgerald.

“He is concerned about safety and liability and urged me to think about possibly pursuing a different, ‘safer,” more passive action,” she said. “I think it’s so important to be honest with my peers, so after the meeting I consulted them and told them everything he said. They responded by saying that they still want to do it.

After getting feedback from other students, the group decided to continue with its plans.

“We feel that it is our responsibility to take part in a nonviolent civic action such as this one,” Good-Ricardo maintained. “I have gotten such a positive response from this, and I hope that this sparks a fire in people to let them know that they are important and their actions do make a difference.”

She hopes the momentum from this movement “will be enough to leave a memorable mark, and that the country will begin to understand that we will no longer watch history go by. We will make our own.”

The Traditional New Castle Festivities will also include a New ‘Salon Style’ Artist Showcase

By Grace Bennett

What happens when three wonderful organizations in town team up to help New Castle residents and merchants alike enjoy the holiday season with artist appreciation and good cheer? You receive ‘Holidays Around Town’… and its priceless gift of community bonding. Sprinkle in some joy to the world, Chappaqua style, and it will be a weekend to cherish and remember forever.

The Chappaqua Orchestra Concert and Tree Lighting at the Greeley House are a time-honored tradition in New Castle that take place the first weekend in December. This year, however: “We’re kicking things up a notch,” confirmed Leslie Weissman, co-founder with Peg Kafka-Sackler of The Northern Westchester Artists Guild (NWAG), a not for profit consortium of some 75 area artists. NWAG took the initiative to spearhead Holidays Around Town and the plans are as follows:

The festivities begin Friday, December 1, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m at the New Castle Historical Society (aka Horace Greeley House) concurrent with the Chappaqua-Millwood Chamber of Commerce’s annual Wine Around Town. Merchants up and down King Street and Greeley Avenue will open their doors and graciously greet guests offering wine and spirits and assorted bites and treats.

On Saturday, December 2, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m, NWAG will again be hosting the art show at the Greeley House. Enjoy holiday selections and classical music performed by the celebrated Chappaqua Orchestra at the Bell School. Following the concert, join neighbors and friends on a stroll over to the town’s beloved annual tree lighting at the Greeley House, where you will be greeted with libations an fine art inside!

Finally, on Sunday, December 3, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the newest offering during this traditional New Castle weekend, is a ‘salon style’ event showcasing 18 NWAG artists plus a holiday party with snacks inside the Greeley House hosted by the staff and volunteers of the New Castle Historical Society. Each artist of NWAG will be ‘taking over a room,’ offering visitors a chance to meet with the artist, ask questions, and of course view his/her works ranging from large scale paintings, photographic prints, sculpture to watercolor and wearable art. Art will be for sale too. “We love when our artists sell a work,” said Weissman. “It’s very satisfying for all of us.” “We have so many talented artists, and some have never shown their work,” added Kafka-Sackler. “It’s a great feeling of accomplishment to show and, in particular, when someone wants to make a purchase.”

Weissman and Kafka-Sackler said their motivation for producing the weekend go well beyond any dollar sales. They emphasized the unique role art can play in bringing a community together. Kafka-Sackler described a universal “feeling of civility” art creates. “It creates a wonderful environment for neighbors and friends to mingle,” she said. Weissman described a “calming effect” too. “It’s Art for Good.”

To keep abreast of the plans for Holidays Around Town and for news of other NWAG events, please visit www.nwartistsguild.org.

Grace Bennett is the Publisher and Editor of the Inside Press, and hopes to partake in the festivities.

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